Iowa cold and dry this winter?

Can you have a drought in winter? We may be headed that way, as stateclimatologist Harry Hillaker says the state is lacking in precipitation ofthe warm- or cold-weather kind. November went down in the books asfourth-driest on record, only an inch of snow on the average across thestate and if the end of the year were today, this would be the driestDecember on record. Hillaker says we’ve had only three-tenths of an inch ofsnow during this month. If that holds up, it’ll be a record beating thefour-tenths of an inch in 1979. All this after Iowa also had thefifth-snowiest October on record. Hillaker says he agrees with theforecasters who predict an El Nino winter. What that typically means is themidwinter months of December, January and February will average warmer thannormal and so far we’re on track with a December that’s been six degreesabove normal. Hillaker says El Nino also means our most wintry weather willhappen in the season formerly known as spring. March is often colder, wetterand snowier than usual in an El Nino year, and April is, too.